The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is reportedly in talks with a New York-based tech company, R3 to rebuild its digital currency platform after suffering sluggish adoption by Nigerians.
Another financial software firm, Bitt has been working on the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), the eNaira since 2021.
With R3, the CBN seeks to revamp and drive the mass adoption of its digital currency, the eNaira. R3 is to help rebuild the CBDC and its underlying technology.
A report by Bloomberg states that the apex bank is in talks with new tech partners to develop a unique and enhanced system to manage the digital Naira.
The report stated that the new software would allow the CBN to have more control of the eNaira.
Bitt is touted to be the one to drive the update initially.
Bloomberg reports that the new partner would wait to replace Bitt but would gradually help hand control to CBN.
Bitt stated that it was aware that the apex bank works with various partners for its tech innovations, affirming that it still works closely with CBN and currently developing other features and enhancements for the eNaira.
The eNaira got off to a slow start and suffered neglect by Nigerians despite being the first CBDC in Africa.
The eNaira usage in Nigeria could not pick up at the expected pace as more Nigerian youths, who were its primary target, shunned it for cryptocurrencies.
The International Monetary Fund said that only eight percent of eNaira wallets had utilided the eNaira, averaging N53,000 in transactions.
The International Monetary Fund noted that, as of November 2022, eNaira had about 942,000 downloads in total. The development comes as the CBN has proposed to the Nigerian government to use the eNaira for its $800 million social safety programme.
